Sebastian Vael Has a Tattoo
by GatesThistle
Summary: "I propose a bet," Isabela proclaimed dramatically. "We must each try our best to find out what and where our resident saint's rumored tattoo is by Saturday night. Winner gets free drinks the rest of the night, courtesy of the losers." (Modern AU) (ships are hinted at but not the main focus)


_Monday_

Isabela slid fluidly into the booth, which was already too full of people, tapping Hawke lightly on the ass as she went. Hawke was currently pretending to wipe down their table for the hundredth time, as she technically was supposed to be working, but as the bar was entirely empty at this time on a Monday, Varric let it slide, even coming over to greet Isabela himself.

"Guess what I just heard?" Isabela announced gleefully, nearly bouncing up and down on her seat in anticipation.

"Exams are cancelled?" Anders asked hopefully, looking characteristically exhausted.

"The school mascot had a new litter of puppies," Merrill chimed in.

"The chancellor has finally given in and is allowing you to start a pirate club," Hawke guessed.

"They reopened that strip club on Central," Varric said with certainty.

"Better," Isabela smirked to their collective disbelief. "Okay, not really those things would be amazing but this is incredible." She paused for dramatic effect. "Sebastian has a tattoo."

The bar near exploded.

"Our Sebastian?" Varric sounded betrayed. "But I can't even get him to drink on two for one Tuesday."

"Probably because it's on a Tuesday," Aveline reasoned.

"Of course it is," Varric insisted. "If it weren't, these college kids would drink me out of house and home."

"Who told you this?" Fenris asked suspiciously.

"Some girl in my pottery class," Isabela responded airily.

Fenris' eyes narrowed. "How does _she_ know?"

"That's the point of a rumor," Isabela pointed out. "You have to prove whether or not it's true."

"Is it religious?" Hawke mused. "I bet it's a bible quote or a cross or something."

"No way," Anders snorted. "You've heard what he was like in high school. It's probably something awful like a skull or a dragon."

" _I_ have a tattoo of a dragon," Hawke defended.

Anders backtracked immediately. "And it looks really good on you."

"The point remains," Varric interrupted, turning to Isabela. "Do you know what and where it is?"

They all looked to her, expectantly, tension palpable in the air.

"No," she admitted to a collective groan of disappointment. "But, fear not," she rallied. "We will know before the week is out."

"How?" Fenris asked, looking invested.

"I propose a bet," Isabela proclaimed dramatically. "We must each try our best to find out what and where our resident saint's rumored tattoo is by Saturday night. Winner gets free drinks the rest of the night, courtesy of the losers."

"I'm so I love with you," Hawke sighed. Isabela smirked at her triumphantly.

"It's Monday now," Varric began. "We have until our usual Saturday meeting here, at which point the winner shall collect. Anything goes. Play dirty my friends."

Hawke sighed again, gazing at him dreamily as she propped her chin on her hand. "I'm so in love with you," she repeated.

Varric smirked at her. "Are you trying to get a raise? If so, flattery will get you everywhere."

"I'm taking no part in this," Aveline clarified, to the surprise of exactly no one.

Isabela booed.

Aveline glared at her. "I have a job, as campus _security_ , and harassing students about private matters will not help me keep it."

"Should we bring the twins in on this?" Isabela pondered.

"No," Aveline and, shockingly, Hawke responded at the same time.

"They're underage," Aveline continued.

"I'm not getting my alcohol license revoked again," Varric agreed darkly. "Getting another one was such a hassle."

"I do not want to know," Aveline said emphatically.

"So it's settled," Isabela interrupted, slamming her fist against the table. "May the one with the hardiest liver win."

"We all know that's you Bela," Anders pouted, then went white as a sheet at the realization. "My god, if you win we'll all be skipping meals for a week."

"You backing out?" She challenged. "If you can't take the heat…"

"Oh I can take it," Anders insisted. "It's not like I haven't spent a whole week eating nothing but ramen before. I'm a med student, working full time at a clinic that can only afford to pay me occasionally."

"That's the spirit, blondie." Varric jovially clapped him on the back, causing him to lurch forward at the impact.

"So Big Girl and the twins are out, but everyone else in?" Isabela called out to the table at large. They all raised their glasses in concurrence, and a wide grin spread across her lips. "Excellent."

 _Tuesday_

"Really Varric," Sebastian insisted gently, with that unbearable smile of his. "You know I don't drink often, and I do have a test tomorrow."

"But it's two for one Tuesday, surely you can recognize a great deal when you see one," Varric said, slathering the sentence with all the charm he possessed.

"Really, I can't stay long," Sebastian continued, looking genuinely sorry, even as he continued to smile beatifically. "I need to be back in my hall soon. I'm the RA on duty tonight."

Varric watched helplessly as Sebastian left, pausing at the group's booth to say goodbye. Even from across the bar he could see Isabela pouting, protesting that he was leaving already, and Fenris' furious blush when Sebastian placed a casual hand on his shoulder. Varric smiled briefly. Poor kid hadn't been this obvious since his soul-destroying crush on Hawke. Too bad for him this one might go just as unrequited.

Hawke mimed a bomb falling as she whistled and then an explosion on what would have been impact and Varric scowled at her.

"I'm just saying," she said, drying a glass with a filthy rag to avoid making eye contact. "Trying to get him drunk enough to spill is sloppy. I expected better from you."

"I still have four more days," he retorted. "I don't see you trying anything yet."

She gave him a knowing smile. "I have a brilliant plan," she tapped her temple. "I have inside information."

"Using Bethany and Carver is cheating," Varric protested. He had honestly forgotten that Bethany was one of Sebastian's residents. "They're not a part of this."

Hawke shrugged unapologetically. "You're the one who said anything goes."

He'd created a monster. Damn if he wasn't proud of her.

They watched curiously as Isabela navigated her way out of the booth, crawling over most everyone, and went after Sebastian.

Five minutes later, she returned, looking disgruntled and signaled Hawke for another drink.

Hawke buried her head in her hands, groaning, before setting out to make Isabela's signature drink, which was a vibrant orange and would knock anyone else on their ass.

"Did she just…?" Varric began.

"Yep," Hawke said despairingly. "She just tried to seduce him, as though that has ever worked for her before. It's so very her, though. If this is the best the competition has to offer, I've got this thing in the bag."

"Hey," Varric pointed at her defensively. "Sex and alcohol are classics, and would sway a lesser man. Unfortunately, choirboy has sworn off anything fun."

"Yeah yeah," Hawke waved him off, smirking as she brought the toxic looking concoction to Isabela, who thanked her with a generous kiss. Well, at least she would be getting laid tonight anyway.

 _Wednesday_

Sebastian was starting to get very confused as to why his clothes kept disappearing while he was in the shower the past couple of days, and just today his towel was gone as well.

It was one of the many dangers of sharing communal showers with a large amount of freshmen, so he had prepared for this eventuality, pulling a spare towel from the bottom of his bag, rubbing most of the moisture from his hair before giving the rest of his body a cursory pat down.

So having his belongings stolen in a juvenile prank was not that surprising, despite the worrying frequency of the event since Monday. What was confusing, was why he kept running into the Hawke siblings afterwards.

First it had been Bethany, who had blushed furiously, but had stared nonetheless. He'd apologized profusely, explaining the situation, and she'd nodded, looking stunned and disappointed. But she was one of his residents, so it made sense for her to be out and about in the hall.

Next it had been Carver, who had been in the bathroom when he exited the shower, looking for all the world like he had been caught at the site of a murder with the weapon in his hand. Carver didn't live there, but he may have been visiting his sister, they were very close from what he heard, and needed to use the bathroom. There was no need to look so guilty for that, so Sebastian had smiled at him in greeting, asking after his studies and Marian. The boy had gone beet red, and managed to stammer out one word answers to his questions before fleeing the bathroom.

Very confusing.

He wrapped his spare towel around his waist, and left the bathroom, only to walk straight into Marian.

They stood, blinking at each other in shock.

Sebastian opened his mouth to explain the situation once again, but before he could she blurted out "You have a towel."

"Yes?" He responded, unsure why this revelation was so shocking. "I just showered."

She was surreptitiously eyeing him up and down, looking disappointed in what she found.

Understanding dawned on him. "Is this about what happened with Isabela yesterday?" He asked, eyes going soft. "You know I would never sleep with her, not while you two were together. There is nothing to be jealous about."

Hawke looked utterly lost at his words, but laughed awkwardly. "Yeah that's me. Definitely the jealous type. Stay away from my girl," she growled mockingly, before giggling to herself and meandering away down the hall.

He watched her go, dripping on the dubious looking carpet of the hall, before he shook his head and went back to his room.

That had been… odd.

 _Thursday_

"I don't really have to be this naked do I?"

"Oh yes," Anders responded cheerfully. "May as well do a full checkup while you're here."

"But," Sebastian sounded as though he was trying to piece this together. "I just have a cough?"

"Yes, but we don't know what else could be wrong. Have you considered that you may have prostate cancer?"

"I am twenty-two years old."

"Never too early to start worrying about it," Anders said, handing him a thin hospital gown with a grin.

"Shouldn't the doctor be doing this?"

"Oh she'll be here any moment," Anders reassured. "I'll go get her after you've changed."

Feeling very observed, Sebastian did so, removing his underwear once the gown was in place, still feeling as though the thin material hid nothing.

Anders was staring at him rather clinically. "Right," he said, considering. "I'll go get the doctor."

When the doctor did arrive, she blinked at his attire. "Why are you wearing the gown?"

"Anders said…?"

She sighed deeply, cutting him off, rubbing her temples. "If you don't pay them, they feel the need to get up to all kinds of shit," she muttered to herself. "Put your clothes back on." Her tone was long suffering and her eyes tired. "I need to have a talk with my intern."

 _Friday_

The library was deserted.

Most of the student body cleared out as soon as they could on Friday afternoon, off to drink away the stresses of the week.

This is exactly why Fenris liked it there. His only company were the two students working behind the desk, neither of them paying him any mind. The mustachioed one consistently had his nose buried in a book and obnoxiously blowing bubblegum, which frustrated his colleague, the bald one, who looked about ready to hit him, but never did, and was always doing his homework.

Fenris wasn't actually a student, but he was young enough to pass for one, and it had all the resources he could need to study for his GED. And on a Friday afternoon, he felt less observed than any other time of the week. People had a tendency to stare at him, and he already felt like he didn't belong in a place of higher learning. He was a high school dropout with a violent, gang related history, for fucks sake.

He owed Hawke and Sebastian everything. For getting him out of that life and for convincing him to finish his high school degree. He slouched in his seat, scowling at the thought. It was no fucking wonder he'd ended up embarrassingly in love with both of them.

"Mind if I join you?"

Yet another perk of the library on Friday afternoons, responsible students such as one Sebastian Vael liked to use the time to study as well.

Fenris gestured the empty seat across from him. "By all means."

Sebastian smiled softly at him, causing his heart to do an entirely unpleasant somersault, and settled into the offered seat.

Fenris allegedly went back to reading about world geography, but really he needed a moment to prepare himself. He had a plan. The bet was essentially won.

As long as he didn't falter.

He cleared his throat, prepared to lay himself bare. Sebastian looked up.

"You know about my past," Fenris began.

"And you know of mine," Sebastian returned gently.

"And about… these." He gestured lamely to the tattoos covering every inch of his body, marking him forever as belonging to the gang, a constant reminder of what he had been. This had been a terrible idea, he couldn't continue. "About…"

The pencil in his hand snapped in two.

Sebastian removed the remains of the pencil from his hand carefully, brilliant eyes meeting his own. "When you are ready to talk about them, I am willing to listen, but please never feel like I'm pressuring you."

Fenris nodded.

He had failed. It had backfired spectacularly, and now Sebastian was looking at him like he was broken and handling him as one would shattered glass. He sighed deeply, he really could have used those free drinks now.

 _Saturday_

Saturday night, the mood was subdued, all of them having failed, looking morosely into their drinks.

"I got him almost entirely naked, _several times_ , and I still couldn't see it," Hawke said despondently.

"Maybe it doesn't even exist," Anders considered.

They all sighed at the thought.

"I had really hoped it existed," Isabela complained. "I love hearing about his wild child days. I wish I had known him back then. He sounded so _fun_."

Varric looked at his watch. "He's late, too. And where is Daisy?"

"Here I am," a bright and familiar voice responded. "Ooh, why do you all look so upset? Is everyone okay?"

"We're fine, Kitten," Isabela reassured. "But none of us could find Sebastian's tattoo."

"Oh!" Merrill exclaimed, causing them all to jump. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, leaning dangerously forward, eyes shining. "I know that! That means I win the bet right? I win?"

"How did you find out?" Fenris demanded, glaring daggers at her suspiciously.

"Oh we volunteer together at the animal shelter and I asked him about it earlier today and he told me."

They all stared at her.

"You just," Hawke paused, arranging her thoughts. "Asked him?"

"Yes!" Merrill looked so proud of herself. "He showed me too, it's very cute."

"Cute," Anders deadpanned.

Isabela threw herself across the table to clasp Merrill's hands in her own, shock entirely forgotten. "You have to tell me."

"It's a bird of prey eviscerating a small rodent across his lower back." She smiled widely down at Isabela's shining eyes.

"Cute," Anders repeated, disbelieving.

Isabela looked thrilled. "He has a tramp stamp. This is better than anything I could have hoped for. Kitten, I could kiss you."

Merrill flushed in delight. "I'm not sure Hawke would approve but thank you."

"No, I kind of want to kiss you too," Hawke admitted, pressing a kiss against her cheek and Isabela did the same to her other one.

Merrill turned even redder. "Oh you two."

"Well done kid," Varric said, ruffling her hair. "What are we buying for you tonight?"

And so it was that they all spent more money on strawberry daiquiris than they were likely to ever again in one night, and when Sebastian joined them a little over an hour later, they were all drunk enough to break down into fits of giggles at the sight of him, even Aveline wasn't immune, snorting indelicately into her beer.

He smiled bewilderedly at them, and Isabela bought him a drink.

 **Author's Note:** _I just love them all so muuuuch._ I kinda want to do another fic where I flesh out my thoughts on Fenris' modern AU back story, but this one was too light hearted to go into it. I did write this all in one sitting with very little editing so yeah sorry if the quality suffers for that. Also, Isabela is black and Fenris is Hispanic in this, As It Should Be. There wasn't a lot of Aveline in this which makes me sad, but oh well.


End file.
